Two new U.S. Coast Guard 154-foot fast response cutters will be based in Astoria starting in 2021.

The Coast Guard announced Friday the new sentinel-class cutters will provide the coastal maritime community with a 30 percent increase in annual operating hours over the current 110-foot patrol boats.

The current Coast Guard cutters are based in Coos Bay. They will continue to operate from there until the new ones are put in operation in 2021.

The new fast response cutters are equipped with improved command and control capability as well as increased sea-keeping abilities, operational range, a larger crew and higher transit speeds than the aging 110-foot patrol boats, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard reports the new cutters will be able to conduct search-and-rescue and interdiction operations up to 50 miles away from the cutter, which greatly extends the vessel’s reach over the current patrol boat fleet.

The Coast Guard is currently examining potential homeport sites in Astoria for the two unnamed fast response cutters.

Fast response cutters are named after enlisted Coast Guard personnel who have distinguished themselves in the line of duty.

A Portland man who watched a solar eclipse in 1963 says the experience left him partially blind in one eye, and now he wants everyone to know the warnings about eye damage during the upcoming eclipse are no joke.

A Portland man who watched a solar eclipse in 1963 says the experience left him partially blind in one eye, and now he wants everyone to know the warnings about eye damage during the upcoming eclipse are no joke.